Hi, i don't really know if this belongs here but I'm kind rushed. The topic pretty much says it. Im goin to have dinner with the vice pres of pixar, and I get to talk to him.
I'e always wanted to do 3D stuff, but the amount of question I want to ask him about the job, oppurtunities, industry are so enormous i don't know where to start.

Are there any pointers some of you could give me. Just questions that may have come up in your career or things you wished you might have known earlier. I guess this one goes out to all the 3d guys out there.

General Confusion speaks from experience and he speaks well. Many years ago, I was fortunate enough to be a tag-along on some lunches and dinners with big shots and half of them, I'd never heard of. Looking back though, what I think they appreciated most was the fact that there was someone in their presence, who knew their stuff, but didn't gush and gloat all over them. They seemed to be more put off by individuals who were hell bent on impressing them with their "vast knowledge of everything right and how huge my *cough* ego can be!". Then again, there were some egos that did need stroking, but they were few and far between. It can be quite a fine dance...

Research and educate yourself the best you can, but don't fall over yourself trying to impress them/him.

Thank you so far guys. Yeah, I know im not gonna ask him crap, like stuff the company wouldn't want the public to know. I guess, i dunno, i'll just chat with him.

It's actually not a big dinner. My friends dad and the guy were highschool buds, and so he's just comming over here to visit them, so my friend, knowing i want to get into comp ani, called me over too so we could meet.

I think it'll be quite an interesting experience.

General confusion, I agree totally with what you say. He is here for dinner after all and
probably doesn't want to be bothered with so many questions...eh samdragon

Frostbite, that's an awesome question. It's always good to know how people start up.

Whats his name...hmmm...actually his name eludes me for now. I'll find out. That name doesnt seem familiar to be ballistic

How important are 2D skills for the animators and modelers? Do they rely on someone else to produce the 2D elements and only concentrate on 3D?

Where will Pixar be in 5 years? Are they going to continue to do animated features or will they do other things? ToyStory and the others are great, but eventually the public will get tired of these types of movies, or something new will come along, are they ready to adapt if this happens?

How much modeling is done through scanning in objects as compared to actually modeling everything from the ground up inside a program.

What does Pixar think about Mainframe,the people who did beastwars etc. They were producing these types of animations for T.V. on a rushed schedule before Toystory was thought of.

Will they be releasing any of their software for the public? Such as the new material shaders they used for the toystory 2. Or any other plug-ins or shaders for that matter.

What do they think of the advances that Alias has made in the world of 3D. They (alias) has alot on the drawing board for the future of 3D. Does Pixar contribute to these advances in 3D by working with alias, or other companies.

In general, when hiring someone, what is the one skill they wished they saw more of?

Are they still doing the "pixar school". Where they train their new people? IF so, are there any plans to open this up to the public eventually? There are rumors that ILM will be opening a private school like this in the future..only rumors though

What is their view on 3D in general? If you want to learn a 3D package you have to have a mountain of manuals and a whole lot of free time. Does pixar see the future of 3D becoming easier to use and more "artist" friendly. An example would be Maya's paint Fx and artisan tools. It looks like some packages are trying to be more artist friendly, but at the same time they still have that deep level of complexity to them.

What kind of new goodies will we see in their new feature. "monsters inc." I noticed the fur on the teaser was amazing! Must have taken forever to render one frame.

This might be a stretch, and not knowing the reasons why or the forum in which you will be meeting him, but why not try to leave a personal impression on the dude.

If you think about it, he probably deals with questions every day that relate to work, and there is no answer he could give you that you couldn't, with a bit of research find out on your own. With exceptions to maybe some proprietary stuff that Pixar has created. And IMO, I don't think he's gonna divulge much of that to you aside form what you could find on one of their DVD releases (Toy Story, Bugs Life, etc.)

I would say to maybe try to stand out from the typical fan worship that he already recieves, and maybe if you can develop a kind of relationship, it may help you out in getting a job. I have been working as a professional artist for over ten years now, and pretty much all of the jobs I've had have been mostly by word of mouth. When working in any creative endeavor, you'll find that there are little families of people who tend to know each other, either by working with one another, or again by word of mouth. And it's these rapports that make people possibly rememebr you when they're looking to hire.

Go out and do a lot of research on Pixar, and try to illustrate a strong and serious interest in the company.

But as far as asking technical questions. I don't think that would be a good thing to do. You figure this person does this every day, so maybe for dinner they want to let it go.